a night out at the theater… while waiting for the performance to start, peculiar out-of-sync things began to happen.

I saw this woman pass my aisle, a vocalist who had performed in my work some years back. I called out “hey Genetti,” thinking she might remember me because she sang in one of my performances some years back. And she seemed to recognize me and stopped to strike up a conversation. But as we were speaking, I realized this was not the same person I imagined her to be… she had the same body-type and vaguely the same face. But a completely different voice and different mannerisms.

But why would she have responded to my “hey” as she walked down the aisle. perhaps she thought I had called out “hey Jeanette!” Or maybe she just responded to “hey!”

She asked me what I’ve been up to lately.

I said that I was working on several projects without any real focus.

She nodded uncomfortably. I think she also realized that I was not who she thought I was. That we were complete strangers, projecting other identities onto the other.

It was rather awkward. It didn’t last very long.

Then a few minutes later, another woman walking down the aisle smiled and waved and I thought surely she must be waving to someone seated behind me because I swear I had never seen her before. But, no… her eyes were staring straight into mine. I waved back. I felt as if I should say more.

Maybe we are all walking around with these mistaken identities and misplaced projections. And it is a miracle of life if we run into the same people twice.